For fans of Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Sarah Langan comes a thrilling new vision of American horror. In Heather Herrman’s heart-pounding debut novel, evil is ready to feed—and it’s got one hell of an appetite.

In the wake of tragedy, John and Erma Scott are heading west in search of a new life. So when car trouble strands them in sleepy Cavus, Montana, they decide to stay for a while, charmed by the friendly residents and the surrounding ambiance. Here, they hope, is the healing balm that their marriage needs.

Then John and Erma find themselves in a fight not just to save their marriage, but their very lives. For this is no ordinary town. Its quiet streets conceal a dark and bloody secret that has slumbered for centuries. Now, that secret is awake . . . and it’s hungry.

Like a slow infection, evil is spreading through Cavus. Soon John and Erma—along with the local sheriff, an undocumented immigrant, a traumatized teenage girl, and an old man with terrible secrets of his own—must join together to battle an all-consuming force that has set its sights on its prey: the entire human race.

Praise for Consumption

“Both the evil that suffuses the pages of Consumption and the motley gang of innocents who defend against it are much more interesting than those usually found in your average scare fare. Solid writing elevates this imaginative fright-fest from an invigorating new voice.” — Sophie Littlefield, bestselling author of the Aftertime series

My Review

I haven't read as much horror as I've been doing lately since I was a teenager. That used to be my genre of choice, but I'm really starting to drift away from it. Heather Herrman's Consumption was a good, solid read, but it also helped me to realize what I do and do not like when it comes to horror.

There are several characters that are focused on in Consumption, and they are all utterly human. (Major kudos on character development!) They all have their secrets, fantasies, darkness, and lies, and it made them all a little more relatable while being harder to like. If they didn't have any flaws, there wouldn't be a fear (at least for me) of them succumbing to the evil forces at work in the novel.

I did want to give major props to the characters before I told you why I didn't like Consumption. It had a lot of things that I just don't enjoy reading. (I promise it's all me and not the author because it was a well-written book, period.) First, and almost a deal-breaker, was the dog Maxie having an incident on the highway. (Spoiler: false alarm.) Then there was a mild rape scene (no rape is "mild", but it wasn't gratuitous) in the middle of the book, and I had to take some time to decide if this is what I wanted to read. In the end, I was skimming the rougher parts, and it was all the gore and grody bits that turned me off. A lot of horror is gory, but I tend to prefer that which is not.

Consumption is a book that deserves all the praise and comparisons that it has been receiving, without a doubt. It is not, however, a book for me. If you like the gory, gritty type of horror, you should pick it up.

Heather Herrman explores American society through horror fiction. She holds an MFA from New Mexico State University, and her work has appeared in such publications as Alaska Quarterly Review, The South Carolina Review, and Snake Nation Review. Herrman’s fiction has also been honored with a Frank Waters Fiction Prize and a scholarship to the Prague Summer Program for Writers.

a Rafflecopter giveawayTo satisfy FTC guidelines, I am disclosing that I received an advance digital copy of the novel from the publisher through TLC Book Tours in exchange for an unbiased review. It has in no way affected the outcome. All expressed opinions are awesome, honest, and courtesy of me.